Manufacture of brushes



Aug. 12, 1924. I 1,504,575

L. H. NIELSEN MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES Filed April 25. 1921 s sheetg-sheet'l INVENTDR.

ATTORNEYS 7 f 3 5 g5 o Aug., 12 1924. 1,504,575

L."H. NIELSEN Mmumqmn 0F nausnss Filed April 25. 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Aug. 12 1924.

L. H. NIELSEN MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES Filed April 25.

1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. [flu/173 Henri L A l/s en ATTORNEY! Patented Au 12, 1924.

UNITED STATES LAURITS HENRIK NIELSEN, KO'LDING, DENMARK, ASSIGNOR TO THE OSBORN IVIIAN'[J'IIMMZTLl'J'IR/ING- COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO,

A CORPORATION or OHIO.

MANUFACTURE OF BRUSHES.

Application filed April 25, 1921. Serial No. 464,406.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAURITS HENRIK NIELSEN, a subject of the King of Denmark, and a resident of'Kolding, Denmark, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Brushes, of which the following is a specification, the principle of the invention. being herein explained and the best mode in which I have contemplated applying that principle, so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

The present improvements relate in general to machines for use in the manufacture of brushes of the tufted type, and particularly to machines for segregatmg, from a mass of bristles, stranded wire or like brush material, successive tufts, or rather bundle, of such material that may be subsequently fashioned into tufts.

One object of the invention is to provide means for automatically selecting or picking from a mass of brush material bundles containing substantially uniform quantities of the material, and without disturbing, or in any way injuring the component strands or the mass of material from which the latter are thus segregated. Along with the foregoing I provide a means for forming a suitable staple from a length of wire, and binding the same around a previously segs regated bundle of brush material interme diate of the ends thereof, so that such bundle may thereupon be fastened onto the brush body or back. 1

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the inven tion, such disclosed means constituting, however, but several of the various me chanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used. 7

In said annexed drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my present improvements; Fig. 1 is a view similar to Fig l, but showing a part ofthe machine only embodying a modified form of construction; Fig. 2 1s an end elevation thereof as viewed from the left in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevation taken by itself of one end of a slide that constitutes an operative element in the machine; Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modification of such slide; Figs. 4- and 5 are respectively a side elevation and an end view of a detail that co-operates with such slide; Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the staple forming device; Fig. 7 is partly a side elevation and artly a section being indicated by the line 7, Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a transverse section of a detail of such staple forming device, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 88, Fig. 7 and Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate successive stages in the application of such staple to a previously segregated bundle of brush material.

The principal elements or parts of the machine include a container or magazine wherein a body of the brush material, i. e,

pig bristles, cut lengths of fine wire or similar material is held; a device which segregates successive bundles or bunches of such material from the body thereof held in the aforesaid container; a revoluble wheel or disk provided with transverse grooves in its circumference, wherein such segregated bundles or bunches of brush material are received from such device; and a device that is adapted to cut off measured lengths of wire, "bend the same around such segregated bundles or bunches, and at the same time form the same into staples suitable for use in the subsequent attachment or insertion of the bundles in the brush body. It.

will be understood that incidentally to such attachment or insertion of the brush material, the bundles or bunches are doubled to form tufts which will project at an angle to the face of the brush body.

The bristle container or magazine 1, as shown in Fig. 1 consists simply of an approximately vertically disposed box wherein the body of brush material 2 is placed with the strands arranged approximately parallel with each other and transversely disposed with respect totheslide 3 that constitutes the-main element of the segregatin device. As shown, the sides of the magazine adjacent the ends of the strands may be left open, the rear wall 1 of the magazine; having regard to the direction of movement of said device 3 in advancing to remove a bundle of material from the magazine, has close fitting contact with said slide, while the front wall 1 terminates a little short of such slide 3, the opening be ing normally closed by a gate 4 pivotally mounted in a bracket 5 on such front wall, and, held in place by a spring .6, as will be readily understood. The brush material. 2 is uniformly pressed downwardly into the magazine by a' weight 7, or equivalent device, the bristles being prevented from escaping at the bottom, in the posltionpf parts shown in Fig. 1, by the slide 3, which lies across such bottom, and by thegate or pawl 4. The latter, however, is free to be tilted inwardly when the advance movement of the slide brings the picker or segregating device proper into operative relation therewith, as will be presently described. V l p Magazine 1 may either be oscillatorily supported as from a'pivotal axis 8 located a suitable distance thereabove, or else it may be slidably supported by suitable means, as shown in Fig. 1 in such fashlon that while it occupies a normal posit on wlth reference to'the direction of movement of the segregating device, it maybe displaced from such position along a line substantially parallel with the path of movement of said device. The normal position of the magazine, with respect to the segregating device, aswell as the amount of resistance wlth which it op poses the operation of the latter, is controlled in the constructional form shownin Fig. 1 by means of a weight 9 adjustably" fixed on an arm 10 that projects rearwardly from said magazine, the effect of such weighted arm being to hold the front wall of the magazine against a stop 11, except as the action of the segregating device, in advancing into the bottom of the body of material in the magazine, moves the latter away from such stop against such weighted arm. In the modified construction shown in Fig. 1 practically the same arrangement is employed, except that, the magazine 12 being here slidably supported on rollers, the weighted arm 13 requires to be connected therewith through a suitable lever 14, as need not be explained in detail.

The slide 3, previously referred to in its co-operative relation with the magazine 1, is in form a flat bar reciprocably held so as to be longitudinally movable between guides 15 and 16 mounted on-the main frame 17 of the machine. Reciprocation of said slide is effected by the main shaft 20 through the medium of an eccentric 21 and rod 22 that is connected with the lower end of double arm lever 23, the upper end of which carries a bolt 24 that engages a vertical slot 25 in the rear end of said slide. The connection between eccentric rod 22 and thelower end of lever 23 permits of a certain amount of lost motion whereby the slide is allowed to stand still or dwell for a moment at each end of its movement.

Said slide is formed in its upper ed e, near its forward face, with a rearwardly directed angularly disposed groove or notch 30, (see Fig. 3) for receiving and withdrawing the brush material from the magazine, the depth of such notch being regulated by means of a plate 31 adjustably secured to the side of the slide so as to close off more or less of the bottom of the notch as desired. There is also attached to the slide, adjacent said notch 30, another member 32, the detailed construction of which is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. As there shown, this member comprises two plates, one located on each side of said slide, such plates being connected by means of rivets 33 and 34, the first of which passes through a hole 35 in the slide so that said plates can oscillate in unison about such rivet within the limits permitted by a vertically elongated opening 36, through which the other rivet 34 passes.

Such oscillatory movement of the two plates constituting member 32 is effected by a guide rod 37, pivotally attached at one end to a pin 38, and lying substantially parallel with Slide 3, its other end being connected by means of a link 39 with a cam 40 on main shaft 20. Pivotally attached to the one plate (see Figs. 4 and 5), such plate having a depending portion for the purpose, is a tubular guide 41 that slidably fits guide rod 37, as a result of which it will be seen that vertical movement may be imparted to member 32 relatively to the slide 3, as the latter is moved back and forth, by varying the angle of guide rod 37 relatively to the path of travel of said slide.

In the modified construction shown in Fig. 3 the same arrangement of member 32 on slide 3, as well as of actuating mechanism therefor, is illustrated, the only difference being that the rearmost rivet 33 is held in a longitudinally extending slot 35 in the slide instead of in a simple round opening, while the oblong slot 36, in which the forward rivet 34 is held, is disposed obliquely for the major portion of its length and then parallel with the edge of the slide for the remainder. The effect of the particular conformation of openings 35 and 36 is to impart, not merely an oscillatory movement to the member 32 when guide rod 37 is raised, but also to impart to it a forward movement that will tend to compact the bundle of brush material in slot 30.

Mounted on a transverse shaft 45, suitably supported above the main frame 17 of the machine is a wheel 46 formed of two similar axially spaced disks, in the periphery of which a series of transversely aligned notches are found, such notches being equidistantly spaced about the periphery of the wheel. The wheel is disposed so that the slide 3 in its forward position, as shown in Fig. 1, passes between the two disks thus lllll composing said wheel, and suitable means are provided for intermittently rotating said wheel in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, so that successive notches 47 will be brought into aligned po sition with the notch in said slide when the latter is thus advanced. Beginning at a point just above that where the slide lies when advanced between the two disks that compose wheel 46, and extending to a point approximately diametrically opposite, is an arcuate member 48 lying alongside each of the disks so as to close all except the inner portions of the notches 47 therein.

The intermittent mot-ion of disk wheel 46 is so timed with respect to that of the slide as to occur immediately after such slide hasadvanced and deposited in the adjacently located notches 47 a bunch of brush material previously segregated from the body of such material in magazine 1. Successive bunches of a material are thus removed from the groove or notch 30 in the. slide and carried along with the wheel 46, being retained in the respective notches 47 in the disks composing such wheel by members 48 until they are discharged from the opposite side of the wheel. Meanwhile a suitable device, shown in detail in Figs. 6 and 7, such device, being located directly above the axis of the wheel, is operated intermittently to cut off a measured length of wire and bend the same around the uppermost bunch or bundle of brush material so that the latter when thus discharged is held together. a

The main element of the device just referred to is a slide 50 that is vertically reciprocably held in the main frame of the machine directly over the wheel 46 as just indicated,such slide being operated by means of a crosshead 51 connected through vertical rods 52 with a pair of eccentrics 53 on the main shaft 20. The slide, it will accordingly be seen, is reciprocated in timed relation with the other movements of the machine. Attached to the rear side of slide 50 is a pawl 54 that engages a ratchet wheel 55, and so serves to rotate the latter step by step as the slide is moved up and down. Such ratchet wheel carries a roller 56 that contacts with a second roller 57, between which a strand of wire 58, from a roll or other supply, is fed into a guide tube 59.

Attached to the front face of the slide 50 is a knife 60, the back of which is beveled in a horizontal plane, and the guide 59, through which the wir is thus fed, has a correspondingly beveled projection, (see Fig. 8) so that when the wire is cut by the shearing action of the knife in co-operation with such guide it at the same time points the end of the wire. The under side of knife 60 has an in dentation or groove 62, which guides the cut off section of wire against a movable anvil 63 whereon such section then rests. On its front side the knife has a projection 64, the lower end of which is cut away to correspond with the transverse shape of said anvil 63, and there is also pivotally attached about an axis 65 on said slide 50, a finger 65, the lower end of which is formed with an indentation similar to that on the inside of the knife. The upper end of said finger is normally drawn towards the knife by a spring 66, but upon downward movement of the slide 50 a beveled face 67 on such finger end engages an oppositely beveled face 68 on the portion of the frame in which the slide is held, with the result that the lower end of said lever is moved towards the lower end of the knife, such movement occurring after the, two parts in question have moved downwardly past the anvil 63.

The anvil is carried by an arm 70 that is pivotally attached to the frame of the ma chine, and a cam projection 72 having a beveled face 71 on, the slide 50 cooperates with a roller 71 on said lever to permit withdrawal of said anvil laterally immediately after the knife and the finger pass by the anvil on either side thereof as the roller 71' will move to the right in Figure 6 over the cam face 71 due to the continued movement of the knife 60 and the finger 65 will carry the formed wire. The section of wire cut off as previously described will in the meantime have been bent into U-shape around such anvil, and is held by its own elasticity in the grooves formed between the knife and the finger.

The wheel 46 will at this stage have brought up a bunch of brush material directly under the U-shaped section of wire. Thereupon, the downward movement of slide 50 continuing, the knife and finger pass between the two disks that compose wheel 46, andsuch bent wire section is brought around such bunch of material. At this point the beveled faces 67 and 68 coact to force the lower end of the finger inwardly and thereby bend the U-shaped wire around and under such bunch of brush material, thereby firmly enclosing the latter in a wire loop, which constitutes the staple, by means of which the material subsequently, after being doubled to form a tuft, is secured to the brush body. The slide 50 now reverses its travel, the tied bundle of bristles is 0011- tinued on its way as the wheel 46 makes a further partial rotation until such bundle passes out from under the retaining members 46 and is discharged from the machine.

The general operation of the machine as a whole should be readily understood from the foregoing description of the construction and mode of operation of its several component parts. Thus, whichever specific form of magazine be employed to hold the loose brush material and whichever aarticular construction of picker bar be uti ized, it

will be seen that upon each reciprocation of V suchpioker bar bunch or bundle of the brush material will be abstracted from the lower end of the magazine and transferred to a. waiting pair of notches in the appropriately disposed position disks of wheel 46. Thereupon such wheel, by successive partial rotations, will bring such bunch or bundle of material into operative relationship to the stapling device whereby a staple is formed from a continuous length of wire and placed around such segregated bunch ofmaterial. The latter, upon finally being discharged from the wheel 4:6, may be collected and held for use in the same compact form in which the loose material is handled, and is adaptablefor employment either in an automatic stapling machine or for hand operation where, as in certain classes of brushes, I have found it economical to insert the brush material into the sockets in the brush bodies by a tool that is directlymanipulated by the operator Other modes of applying the principle of 'my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed, provided the means stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and dis tinctly claim as my invention 1. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a reciprocable device adapted to segregate a bunch or bundle of brush material from a body thereof, and a magazine for such material, said magazine being movably mounted and yieldingly held against the movement of said reciprocable segregating device.

2. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a reciprocable device adapted to segregate a bunch or bunc dle of brushmaterial from a body thereof,

of a magazine for such material, said magazine supported in a vertical plane over said device so as to be yieldingly movable in the direction of movement of said device in segregating a bunch of bristles, and means normally positioning said magazine in such vertical position.

3. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a reciprocable device a'dapted to segregate a bunch or bundle of brush material from a body thereof,

of a magazine for such material, said magazine oscillatorily hung so as to be movable in the direction of movement of said device, a stop wherewith said magazine is adapted to engage, and a weighted arm connected with said magazine and adapted normally to retain same against said stop.

5. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a reciprocable picker bar having an inclined notch in its upper edge, a magazine for brush material supported over said bar, the latter forming the bottom closure for said magazine, a member carried by said bar and adapted to close same when filled with such material, and a disk-wheel having notches in its periphery adapted to receive successive bundles of such material from the notch in said bar.

6. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a reciprocable picker bar having an inclined notch in its upper edge, a magazine for brush material supported over said bar, the latter forming the bottom closure for said magazine, a member carried by said bar and adapted to close same when filled with such material, a wire-cutting and staple-forming device, and a disk-wheel having notches in its periphery adapted to receive successive bundles of such material from the notch in said bar, and present same in operative position to said device.

7. In mechanism of the cha 'acter described, the combination of a wheel comprising two axially spaced disks having corresponding notches equidistantly disposed about their peripheries, a picker bar reciprocable between said disks to deposit bundles of brush material in successive notches, and a wire-cutting and staple-forming device adapted to operate on such bundles as they are carried around by said wheel.

8. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a wheel comprising two axially spaced disks having come spending notches equidistantly disposed about their peripheries, a picker bar reciprocable bet-ween said disks to deposit bundles of brush material in successivenotches, and a wire-cutting and staple-forming device adapted to operate on such bundles as they are carried around by said wheel, said device including a reciprocable knife adapted to cut off a piece of wire, an anvil, and a finger co-operative with said knife to bend such cut-off piece of wire about said anvil.

9. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a wheel comprising two axially spaced disks having corresponding notches equidistantly disposed about their peripheries, a picker bar reciprocable between said disks to deposit bundles of brush material in successive notches,

ion

' ed to out off a piece of and a Wire-cutting and staple-forming device adapted to operate on such bundles as they are carried around by said Wheel, said device including a reciprocable knife adapt- Wire, a retractible anvil, and a finger co -operative With said knife to bend such cut-0H piece of Wire about said anvil, said knife and finger being grooved to hold the bent piece of Wire and place the same upon a bundle held in said Wheel, and 1 ineansadapted thereupon to actuate said finger to close such piece of Wire around such bundle.

Signed by me this 13th day of April, 1921.

LAURITS HENRIK NIELSEN. 

